[Added 12-18-2012 by Ord. No. 56-65]
a. 
The City will allow for either a veteran or surviving spouse of a veteran to obtain municipal property tax relief upon proper claim. An "eligible veteran" shall be defined as a member of the armed forces who was either honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service in the time of war or has been declared by the United States Veterans Administration to be 100% permanently disabled.
b. 
In order to qualify for the municipal tax exemption, the veteran or someone on his/her behalf, under oath, must file a written claim with the Tax Assessor's office. The Tax Assessor's office will supply the applicant with the appropriate paperwork, and the applicant will be required to provide the Tax Assessor's office with the following information:
1. 
Reason for the exemption;
2. 
A description of the property for which the exemption is claimed;
3. 
A certificate of claimant's honorable discharge or release under honorable circumstances from active service, in time of war, and a certificate/letter from the United States Veterans Administration, or its successors, certifying to a service-connected disability.
c. 
In order for a surviving spouse of a veteran to qualify for the municipal tax exemption, the spouse, under oath, must file a written claim with the Tax Assessor's office. The Tax Assessor's office will supply the surviving spouse with the appropriate paperwork, and the applicant will be required to provide the Tax Assessor's office with the following information:
1. 
Proof to establish that the spouse is the owner of legal title to the premises on which the exemption is made;
2. 
That the claimant occupies the dwelling house on said premises as the claimant's legal residence in the State of New Jersey;
3. 
That the veteran has been declared by the United States Veterans Administration to have a service-connected disability or that the veteran shall have been declared to have died in active service in time of war;
4. 
That the veteran is or would have been entitled to exemption at the time of death;
5. 
The claimant is a resident of the State of New Jersey who has not remarried.
d. 
In determining an award for a municipal tax exemption, the City has determined that the City will only return municipal property taxes for the current year and prior year but not greater than for a twenty-four-month period in the aggregate since retroactive refunds have a financial impact upon the City which must be compensated for by nonexempt taxpayers. In the event that the Veterans Administration determines that a veteran's disability date is greater than 24 months from the date the applicant submits his/her application with the Tax Assessor's office, the City will only be obligated to return taxes for a period of no greater than 24 months from receipt of a completed application to the Tax Assessor. All applicants providing the requisite proof under this section will be granted a lifetime tax exemption on their City owned property.